


It Takes a Village: Summer

by Tofu_Monstrosity



Series: It Takes A Village [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angela and Jesse are siblings adopted by Jack and Gabe, Child Hana "D.Va" Song, Domestic Fluff, Everyone is 5 years younger, Everyone is in this, Found Family, Hana has issues, Hana is Adopted, I need more bird moms, Jack and Gabe own a bar, Looming Omnic Crisis, Mentions of PTSD, Modern AU, Multi, Oops I rewrote the canon, Pharmercy trying to raise a child, Sorry Not Sorry, cute fluff but with PLOT!, more than meets the eye, past trauma, team as a family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2020-01-24 11:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18570742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tofu_Monstrosity/pseuds/Tofu_Monstrosity
Summary: Angela and Fareeha have made their dream come true and adopted a daughter. Though as they are finding out, Hana is a handful like any 5-year-old can be. As Hana adjusts to this new life she gets to meet Grandpa Reinhardt, Grandma Ana, Abuelo Gabriel, Grandpa Jack, Uncle Jesse and the rest of the "family".But Hana is hiding something and it causes Angela and Fareeha to wonder:Who is "D.Va"?The first part of the series is not required to read but highly encouraged as things will make more sense.I will be expanding on this universe with doodles and information over on my Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tofuwritesthings





	1. Storms Brewing

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 is here!  
> Just a fair warning, I am American so I use the weird American way of measuring things.

Summer came in with a bang. Literally, as strong coastal storms pushed their way into the tiny town of Overwatch. The dark, rolling thunderclouds turned the afternoon sky ominous and foreboding. Fareeha loved storms. It meant she could get work done in the house without feeling guilty for not being outside on a summer day. The far away roll of the first roar of thunder was like a calming hum that tickled her soul. Currently she was sitting on the couch, sipping her tea and reading the novel that she still hadn’t finished while under a blanket. In her head she counted the seconds between the thunderclap and the lightning, a trick her father taught her to see how far away the storm was. She got to 12 before the flash, 12 miles.

Fareeha started counting again. This time she wasn’t counting the seconds between the thunder and lightning. She was counting how long it took Angela to come running from whatever she was doing.

She got to 7 before the blonde doctor joined her on the couch, papers from work in her hands. Fareeha didn’t hide the small smile that played on her lips as she pretended to keep reading her book.

“I didn’t know it was going to storm today.” Angela hated storms. The blinding lightning and booming thunder reminded her of a time she would rather forget. Usually when a storm would roll in she would find her wife and join her in whatever she was doing. As long as she was with another person, Angela felt safe.

Fareeha shrugged. “You know how summer storms tend to pop up.” She looked up to Angela as the thunder rumbled again, this time louder than before. Angela pressed closer into her wife. Fareeha counted 10 seconds before lightning lit up the room. The next sound they heard, however, was not from the approaching storm, but rather a large crash from upstairs. Both women were on their feet in the blink of an eye and racing up the stairs.

“Hana!” Angela called, making a beeline for the girl’s room. Even though Hana had only lived with them for a total of two days, her room was already a mess. Toys, drawings, and stuffed animals littered the floor. Her desk was covered in video games with cords haphazardly cascading into tangled chaos. There was a mess of colored markers covering a half-finished drawing of a large house in the center of the floor, but no Hana to be seen. Angela felt her heart in her throat as every worst-case scenario played through her head.

The two of them had been giving the little girl plenty of space. Angela had read that adjusting to a new home is hard for children and they needed to go at their own pace. Even though it went against every instinct she had, she followed the advice. Now she was kicking herself for it.

The two panicked women looked at each other when they heard a soft whimpering. “That’s coming from our room,” Fareeha said, then dashed across the hall. Again, no Hana to be seen, though the whimpering continued. Angela followed the sound to their en suite bathroom.

Inside they found the little girl on the floor, pushing back tears as she held her left wrist close to her chest. Angela was quick to jump into doctor mode. “ _ Liebling _ are you alright, what happened?” Hana didn’t respond and recoiled when Angela tried to touch her. This action did not go unnoticed by either woman, as Hana had never acted like that around them before. 

Fareeha took a look around the room. The toilet lid next to the sink was slightly askew, and the medicine cabinet above the sink was open and cosmetics had fallen everywhere. But what caught Fareeha’s attention first was Angela’s pink lipstick. It was open on the floor by Hana’s side, and across her cheeks were messy attempts at lines similar to the ones she wore in Korea. Even though she was just a security guard, Fareeha always dreamed of one day being a detective like her mother. She knew she would be good at it too, as her attention to detail was bar none.

“Hana, did you climb on the sink to get to Angela’s lipstick? Is that why those lines are on your face?” Fareeha questioned. Hana became infatuated with the bathroom rug. Angela looked quizzically between them. 

“D.Va did it…” The little girl muttered to the floor, but Angela was close enough to hear it.

“What did D.Va do?” Angela asked, remembering the name from previous conversations.

Angela assumed that this “D.Va” character was some imaginary friend. She had read in one of her (many) books on parenting that it is normal for kids to have imaginary friends at this age.

“ _ She _ took the lipstick!” Hana shouted to the women, who were startled by the outburst.

Thunder roared closer and Hana cowered. Angela saw the familiar look of fear in her eyes as Hana grabbed the lipstick and hastily finished the two pink whisker lines on each side of her face.

“There.” Hana let out a deep breath. “D.Va ‘tect now.” She said confidently.

“Okay Hana, can I see your wrist now?” Angela asked.

“Not Hana!” Hana snarled back like a wounded animal. “I am D.Va!” The little girl gave both women a harsh glare, and Angela raised her eyebrows in surprise at the tone. 

“Hana, we’re not playing right now. I need to see how bad you hurt yourself,” Angela reached out towards the injured wrist Hana held close. She quickly pulled it away.

“Not playing!” Hana growled, “ ‘m fine.” She got up and tried to push past both women. Angela was still in shock, but Fareeha still had her wits about her. She grabbed the small girl by the waist and picked her up. “Put me down!” Hana screamed, kicking and flailing in Fareeha’s arms, connecting a few times with Fareeha’s face.

“Hana, calm down.” Fareeha sighed, not wanting to fight with the girl even as white hot pain shot through her nose where Hana connected. Angela stood and took Hana’s wrist in her hands.               

“Not Hana!” she yelled, only settling down a little when Angela’s soft hands touched her. Angela always tended to have a calming effect on her patients and it seemed to work here too. Fareeha saw the tears now streaming down the little girl’s face and her heart broke. 

“It looks sprained,” Angela said as she tried to hold back her own emotions. Seeing Hana so upset made her stomach twist in knots. All she wanted to do was take the pain away. “Hana, you could have really hurt yourself!” She scolded lightly, before opening the linen closet and sorting through her first aid kit. She found the dressing she was looking for and wrapped it securely around Hana’s wrist.

The thunder roared again, and Hana yelped and started squirming once more. Once Angela was done, Fareeha let the scared child go. She instantly scampered off into her room, slamming the door loudly. Both women looked at each other with worry etched on their faces. 

 

\----

 

The storm rolled out as quickly as it had come and the early evening sunlight poked through the clouds. Fareeha sat at the kitchen island staring at the warm tea in her hands. She didn’t look up from the cup until she heard the familiar light footsteps of her wife entering the kitchen.

“She still in there?” Fareeha asked, looking up at Angela’s tired face as the doctor made herself a cup of coffee. The two of them had made several attempts at coaxing Hana out of her room, all in vain.

“Yes, and she still won’t talk to me.” Angela let out an exasperated sigh as she filled her  _ “World’s Okayest Doctor” _ mug that Jesse got her when she graduated medical school. She plopped herself down on the barstool next to Fareeha.

“I thought we still had several years until we had a teenager in the house.” Fareeha let out a small chuckle in hopes to raise Angela’s spirits a little. The blonde didn’t react, instead staring into the bitter black liquid in her mug.

“Fareeha, I’m worried,” Angela said, looking up to her wife.

“She’ll get hungry some time, she can’t stay in there forever,” Fareeha replied, sipping her tea.

“No, not that. I’m worried about Hana’s behavior. What if she’s not happy here?” Fareeha set her tea down.

“Angie, the girl’s been through a lot. I can’t imagine the things she has seen. She just needs time to adjust to this new life,” Fareeha assured. “So she has an imaginary friend? I had like seven of them when I was a kid.” Angela sighed in defeat.

“I guess you’re right. I just don’t know whether to give her space or not. I don’t want her hurting herself.” Angela bit her bottom lip in concern. Fareeha couldn’t help the small smile that played on her lips as she set a comforting hand on Angela’s shoulder.

“We go at her pace. She’ll get there. Just don’t push her.” Fareeha took a sip of her tea and the two women sat in silence. A few moments later, the patter of small feet came down the stairs and skidded to a stop where they were sitting.

Hana looked up at them, her brown hair was messy and the lipstick lines on her face were smudged. She held her stuffed bunny tight in her arms.   


“I’m hungry.” Hana squeaked. It was the first time Fareeha noticed the bags under the little girl’s eyes.

“Of course!” Angela was quick to get to her feet. “It’s about dinner time. Let’s see what we have.” The blonde was precise in her movements as she went to the fridge to rummage around. Hana watched her intently, as if she was studying the woman. “Chicken nuggets?” She pulled the bag out of the freezer and presented it with a smile.   


Fareeha rolled her eyes. Angela couldn’t cook to save her life. Jesse had told her that when they lived together, he ended up being the one that did all of the cooking in the house. A task quickly passed on to Fareeha, lest Angela burn the house down.

Hana’s smile lit up the room and she nodded excitedly.

 

\----

Angela sat up in bed reading the latest research update Moira had emailed her on her laptop. Like a curse, she had always had a hard time falling asleep and there was always work to do. Conversely, Fareeha’s head would hit the pillow and she would be out like a light. Angela was jealous of her wife as she softly snored next to her.

As she scrolled through Moira’s meticulous notes, Angela heard the floorboards creak. She glanced up from her computer to the door. She had left it ajar in case anything happened and Hana needed them. Lo and behold, who else would be standing in that little crack but Hana herself. She was clad in her pink pajamas, and hid her face behind her adored stuffed bunny.

“Hana,” Angela took off her reading glasses and closed her computer and set both on the bedside table. “What’s wrong dear?” Hana opened the door a bit more, edging herself inside slightly.

“H-Hana’s here?” Fareeha was half-awake but didn’t bother to open her eyes or sit up.

“C-can I sleep wif you?” Hana squeaked as she fidgeted with Tokki’s ears. Angela grinned.

“Of course,  _ honig _ ,” Angela pulled the covers back. Hana wiggled herself in between the two women. Angela smiled, a warm feeling began rising in her chest until she felt it throughout her entire body.

“G’night…” Fareeha mumbled as she rolled over in bed. Hana giggled a bit.

“Night!” She replied. Angela settled into bed, giving one last look at her wife and child before turning off the light.


	2. Domestic Bliss

Fareeha ended up on the couch.

Between Angela taking all of the covers and Hana taking up most of the bed, Fareeha realized she wasn’t going to get any rest. She moved to the couch downstairs to get some sleep. Once the morning sun flooded the living room she was up and making breakfast.

Angela came down some time later and headed straight for the coffee. After giving her a moment to wake up, Fareeha turned from the bubbling pancake batter to her half-conscious wife.

“How did you sleep?” Fareeha asked, hoping the coffee was taking effect. The blonde glared at her wife.

“I’m pretty sure Hana’s foot was in my stomach for the majority of the night,” she replied. Fareeha couldn’t stop the laugh that passed her lips. “Speaking of...” Hana’s rapid footsteps drew both women’s attention as the small girl skidded to a stop in front of them.

“Good morning Hana,” Fareeha greeted.

“Mornin!” Hana scrambled up onto the kitchen chair and placed Tokki in her lap. Angela noticed that Hana seemed to have more energy the past couple of days; she made a mental note to check on her sleep schedule.

“Are you hungry?” Fareeha asked. Hana nodded rapidly. “Good! I wouldn’t know what else to do with these pancakes otherwise.” Fareeha served up two fluffy pancakes onto a plate. Hana’s eyes were as wide as the pancakes themselves as she watched Fareeha bring them over. The little girl wasted no time in drowning them in syrup and tearing into them.

“Why don’t I cut those for you?” Angela stepped in, having seen enough of the carnage. She cut the remaining pancakes into more manageable pieces.

“What we doin’ today?” Hana asked with a full mouth. Before Angela could scold her about eating with her mouth full, Fareeha chimed in.

“We have a few errands to run, most importantly groceries …” Fareeha opened up the nearly empty kitchen cabinet for emphasis.

“I need to swing by work,” Angela added. “Even though the hospital is willing to grant me a few months of maternity leave, there are some files in my office I still want to look over.”

Fareeha nodded, “And I want to go to the hardware store to price out fencing for the backyard.” She gave a glance out the patio doors at their spacious backyard. The very end of it dropped off to a cliff, and they had told Akande they were going to put a fence up for Hana’s safety.

“Then we have a big day ahead of us,” Angela said before filling up her coffee mug once more. No matter how many times Fareeha encouraged her wife to stop refilling her coffee and actually eat her breakfast, she refused.

It wasn’t long before the trio were on the road. Hana insisted on bringing one of her handheld video games, “16-bit Hero”, to play on the way.  The first stop was Saint Bernard’s Hospital, Angela’s workplace, and the only civilian hospital in the territory. Hana stared out the window in both awe and apprehension. It was a modern, bustling mecca of both people and omnics, all rushing about. She clutched Tokki tighter as Angela parked the car in her reserved spot. “It will only take a few minutes. Want to come see where I work, Hana?” Angela asked. Hesitantly, she nodded.

Hana clutched Fareeha’s hand tightly as the three walked through the hallways of the large hospital. Fareeha noticed how Hana’s pace would quicken whenever they passed an omnic. Angela led them up several floors to an administrative section of the hospital. “Here we are.” She unlocked the mahogany door to her office.

While Angela considered herself a neat and orderly person, her office was anything but. Paperwork littered her desk and there were post-it notes all over her computer screen of various ideas and research topics. Only Angela knew exactly where in the mess to look.

Hana was in awe of the spacious room, with bookshelves even taller than Fareeha. She was drawn to the window with a view of the Rock of Gibraltar.

“Fancy seeing you here, Doctor Ziegler,” a smooth voice said from behind them. Hana turned sharply to see a tall and slender woman in the doorway. Her hair was a fiery red and she wore an unsettling grin on her face that made Hana’s blood run cold. The woman walked further into the room and towards Hana, her heterochromatic eyes falling on the small girl. “This must be Hana, whom I have heard so much about.” Her voice was thick with an Irish accent and she bent over to get a better look at the girl. 

“Hana, this is Moira,” Angela introduced. “She’s the one who got you those wonderful… textbooks.”

“ _ Auntie _ Moira,” the woman corrected. Fareeha rolled her eyes dramatically. Moira eyed the little girl up and down before patting her on the head. Hana hid behind her bunny. Moira widened her grin and turned to Angela.  “Anyway,” she continued without missing a beat, “I stopped by to put these files on your desk, but since you’re here I’ll just give them to you.” She handed Angela several manila folders. “These are the preliminary test results on the caduceus technology and nanite-based cellular regeneration.” Angela nodded gratefully and immediately began flipping through the papers.

Hana eyed the new woman with concern. Moira was an imposing figure, towering over the small girl. Hana clung closer to Fareeha, her thumb finding its way into her mouth.

“Thank you Moira. I will review these findings when I get home,” Angela said, before turning to Hana, sensing the girl’s unease. “We have to get going though, lots of errands to run today.”

”Of course,” replied Moira. “It was lovely to meet you, Hana,” the Irish doctor bowed before making her exit. 

Soon the trio found themselves at the fencing section of the hardware store. Fareeha studied the different types of fence. “I don’t want a full-on privacy fence; I still want to see the sunset,” she muttered. “But chain-link is so…boring.”

Angela couldn't care less about fencing options. She absentmindedly looked at wood samples, only stopping briefly to look over at Hana who was entertaining herself with the different displays of latches and knobs. She was so enticed that she didn’t notice the short man with a cart full of tools passing by as he muttered to himself.

“Torbjörn!” Angela immediately recognized the man and Hana turned her attention to him. He was only a foot or so taller than the little girl. She was in awe that someone only slightly taller than her could have the thickest beard she had ever seen.

“Ah! Angela! Fareeha!” He smiled and walked over. Hana got a better look at him. He was much older than both Angela and Fareeha and only stood to Fareeha’s waist. Hana was drawn to his thick and fluffy beard. She had to touch it! 

“Oh!” He noticed the small hands touching his beard. The old Swedish man looked down to see Hana gripping his beard and he let out a bellowing chuckle. “You must be Hana! It is nice to meet you!”

“Hana, this is Torbjörn, he and his daughter got you your car seat.” Fareeha explained. Torbjörn nodded.

“Aye! And Brigitte is dying to meet you, little one,” he said with a jovial grin. “Speaking of, I must get back to the shop. I’ve left Brigitte to her own devices for far too long.” He waved as he went back to his cart. “Have a good day, and remember! Don’t get caught with your beard in the letterbox!”

The three watched him go. “I have no idea what that means…” Fareeha shrugged and the trio continued their shopping day.

By the time they made it to the grocery store, Hana was tired. She was dozing off in the back of the car with her thumb in her mouth. Angela didn’t recall reading anything in her books about a child Hana’s age still sucking her thumb. She shrugged it off as they continued shopping.

Fareeha hated grocery shopping. She enjoyed cooking, but going through and buying things was too tedious. She was delegated to pushing the cart while Angela flitted to and fro pulling things off of shelves. As usual, Angela took forever matching the right coupons with the right items.

Hana was done with it all. There wasn’t any room for her to sit in the cart anymore, so she was forced to walk. An action she did not want to do.

“Hana. Get up.” Fareeha sighed, telling the small girl for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

“No!” Hana pouted. She was laying on her back in the middle of the bread aisle with Tokki held closely to her chest. Angela was already three aisles down and Fareeha could feel a headache coming on.

“Hana, we can get those chips you like, if you behave.” Hana hopped to her feet.

“Now?” She bounced excitedly.

“Yes, but you have to wait until we get home to eat them,” Fareeha answered. Hana wasn’t pleased with that answer, and she again plopped herself on the floor, this time in front of the cart. Fareeha wracked her brain for a solution, until an idea came to her. “Hana, I have an important mission for you.” Hana’s interest was piqued. “We need to get the cart down the aisles in order to get out of here. Can you pilot for me?” 

Hana knew what to do immediately. She was quick to scramble onto the bottom rack of the cart, shoving a few bottles of juice out of the way so she was snug. “Alright, make sure you keep your fingers out of the wheels,” Fareeha warned as she took off to find Angela. Hana squealed and giggled the entire time until they came to a stop in front of the blonde, who was comparing the price per volume of cereal.

“Oh!” Angela was taken by surprise. “There you are.” She smiled at Fareeha, but she looked in horror when she didn’t see Hana. With a sly smile, Fareeha pointed under the cart. Angela bent over to see Hana with a huge smile on her face and her pink stuffed bunny perched on her back.

“I’m flyin’!” the little girl told Angela, who looked relieved.

“I can see that! Well, we’re almost done here, can you steer us to the checkout?” 

Hana gave a mock salute and giggled. “Boosters engaged!”

 

\----

 

By the time they made it home, Hana was asleep. Fareeha picked her up and took her inside while Angela put the groceries away. It was a scene of domestic bliss, similar to that of the TV shows Fareeha remembered watching while growing up.

Of course, domestic bliss can only last so long. Dinner was another monster. Figuring out what Hana would and wouldn’t eat was always a challenge. She whined as she poked the broccoli with a fork.

“Hana, you need to eat it,” Fareeha said.

“Nuh uh! Yuna takes my vegetabirds!” Hana looked at the green food on her plate as if it were about to eat her.

“Well Yuna’s not here right now so you’ll have to eat them,” Fareeha countered quickly, recalling the girl from the foster home. Hana didn’t like that answer and grumbled.

“No video games until you do.” Angela’s statement was final and the girl looked completely horrified. Fareeha was impressed; she didn’t know her wife could “lay down the law” so well.

“No fair!” Hana whined. But she didn’t put up any more fight as she slowly licked the broccoli on her fork.

After dinner, Fareeha stayed behind to clean up and Angela took Hana upstairs for a bath. Yet another task that was easier said than done. The woman had to nearly drag the girl to the bathroom.

“But I ate the vegetabirds! I wanna play games!” Hana protested in her losing battle against her captor.

“And you can, after your bath.” Angela played more towards reason as she got the girl into the bathroom and closed the door. She went to the tub and began filling it with warm water; she even added the bubble bath Mako and Jamie got for her. Hana bounced excitedly in place, all previous concerns popping away with the bubbles.

Angela helped undress the girl so she could get in the tub. She felt her heart break as she saw the old scars criss-cross all over the little girl’s back. The burn marks were primarily centered on her back, buttock and upper thighs. All of them could easily be covered by clothes which is why Angela had not noticed them until now. 

Hana loved the bath toys. By the end of the bath Angela was also dripping wet. “Alright, get your pajamas on and you can play your video games for a bit.” Hana sprinted to her room with the large towel completely engulfing her in fluffy warmness.

Fareeha waited until about 9:30 before poking her head into Hana’s room. As predicted, the girl was deeply immersed in her handheld video game, wearing her pink pajamas and sitting on her bed. Fareeha pushed herself into the room.

“Hana, time for bed,” Fareeha said. Hana whined in return.

“I finish this level?” She asked, never looking up from her game.

“No, save and put it away. It will be there when you wake up,  _ sojunghan _ .” Fareeha walked around to the other side of Hana’s bed with an expectant look on her face. Hana knew there would be no more arguing. She saved her game and put it on the nightstand before snuggling into bed. “Goodnight  _ alarnib alsaghir,”  _ Fareeha said, about to turn off the light.

“Wait!” Hana sat straight up in bed with her eyes wide. “Can I have a story?”

Fareeha furrowed her eyebrows. Stories weren’t really her thing. She was about to protest, but the look of excitement on Hana’s face made her relent. “Alright.” She sat on the bed. “What do you want to hear a story about?”

Hana shrugged, as she pulled Tokki in close. Fareeha had to think for a minute. She didn’t know many stories, as her mother didn’t tell her many and she was too old when she lived with her father.

That gave her an idea.

“Once upon a time there was a valiant knight,” Fareeha started.

“What does “val-y-ant” mean?” Hana interrupted.

“Brave.” Fareeha answered. Hana nodded encouragingly. “Anyway, there was a brave knight who protected her country from all sorts of scary monsters.” Hana pulled the covers closer to her face as she hung on to every word. “The knight was respected by the people she protected. But the knight had a problem that she kept hidden from the world. She was lonely. 

“Her mother, the empress of her country, went missing years ago and the knight never stopped looking for her. The knight even started looking around the world for her mother, but there was no sign of her.” Fareeha’s eyes glazed over. “Until one day, the knight received a letter. The letter was from her mother. She apologized for leaving the knight and told her that she was still alive and living in a faraway land. The knight was shocked that her mother would simply reappear after so long.”

“She should be happy!” Hana interrupted. Fareeha smiled sadly. 

“It was complicated, for her mother also asked her to come live with her in that faraway land. At first the knight said no.”

“Why would she say no?” Hana was appalled and sat straight up in bed, anger flashed over her face.

“The knight was upset, Hana,” Fareeha explained. “After all of those years of searching, the Empress was just now reaching out to her.” Hana crossed her arms and sat back in bed. She didn’t like that answer but she wanted to hear the rest of the story so she stayed quiet and allowed Fareeha to continue. “Eventually the knight accepted and moved to this new country.”

“The knight was happy to be reunited with her mother after so many years. She became a protector of this new country like she was back home. She was well-respected and even got to meet and become friends with the kings who ruled this new country.” 

“There are two?” Hana asked, genuinely curious.

“Yes, two kings who were very nice. They ruled the land together and loved each other very much,” Fareeha responded and Hana nodded, following the story. “The knight was happy, but there was a problem.”

“What’s that?” Hana asked.

“The knight was still lonely.” Fareeha explained. Hana’s eyebrows furrowed as she tried to understand. “You see, she found her mother, but she felt like there was still something missing.” 

“Every morning the knight would go out jogging, passing by a beautiful castle. She had always wondered who lived in such a gorgeous place for she never saw anyone there. Then one day, as the knight was jogging by, she caught a glimpse of someone beautiful. She was a tall and slender woman. The morning sun glinted off of her blonde hair that looked as if it was on fire. Even from so far, the knight was entranced by her blue eyes, like a cool drink of water on a hot day.” Fareeha grinned as she stared off into space. “The knight was so enamored by this woman she forgot she was jogging and fell right on her face!” 

Hana’s hands went to cover her mouth in shock. “Was she okay?” 

Fareeha laughed. “Yes, the beautiful woman rushed over to help the knight. You see, this woman was the princess of the land and also a doctor. She helped the knight up and took her inside to clean up the scrapes. They ended up talking, laughing, and enjoying being with each other. Soon, she came over to visit the princess more often. The knight fell in love with the princess and the princess fell in love with the knight.”

“Did they live happily ever after? Yuna says that fairy tales end in happy ever after,” Hana asked, her eyes still wide.

Fareeha couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s for another time.” She smiled and stood. “Now, you got your story, so now it’s bedtime.” She tucked Hana under the covers. “Goodnight  _ alarnib alsaghir. _ ” She smiled and kissed Hana on the top of the head.

“Night!” Hana chirped back as Fareeha turned off the light and left the room.

“I liked the story.” Angela was standing just on the other side of the door with her arms crossed and a sly smile on her face. “And tell me, my knight,  _ do _ they live happily ever after?” She asked.

“You tell me, princess.” Fareeha kissed her wife and they went to bed.

 

\----

 

_ She was trapped. _

_ The buildings fell with the attacks from the omnics of the sea. The walls collapsed around her, and she was trapped in a pocket of debris. Her leg hurt. When she tried to move it, pain shot through her body. The scared little girl could feel the white hot fire just on the other side of the rubble.  _

_ She tried to call out for Mommy and Daddy, but the suffocating air sucked the words right out of her mouth. It hurt to breathe. _

_ She was alone. _

_ At first she could hear screams of other people, but that too soon died out until there was nothing but silence and the crackling of fire. She waited for her parents. Surely they would find her, Mommy and Daddy always found her. _

_ Hana wanted to cry as she curled up on the ground. Time seemed to slip away. All she knew was that she was alone, in the dark, hungry, and tired. _

_ “Hana,” a voice called her name. The little girl’s heart was in her throat. The voice sounded like her own but she didn’t say anything. Hana looked everywhere for the source of the voice and could only whimper in reply. The voice continued. _

_ “I ‘tect you now.” _

**THUD**

Hana fell out of bed, entangled in pink sheets. Her heart beat rapidly as she pulled the covers away. Another nightmare. The little girl sat up, searching everywhere for her precious bunny who had fallen to the floor with her. That was when she noticed the sheets were wet, as were her pajamas.

Hana curled up and pressed Tokki close to her chest. Usually when this happened, Yuna would be there to help her. She would help clean her up and wash the sheets so Miss Myung wouldn’t find out. Miss Myung was fed up with Hana’s bedwetting and often punished her with laundry duty.

But Hana wasn’t at the foster home anymore. She looked around the room, illuminated by a small nightlight. She was in the beautiful house with the nice women who take care of her. The little girl collected herself enough to get up. She couldn’t go back to sleep in the wet sheets.

Carefully, she tiptoed out of her room and across the hall where the door to the women’s room was cracked open. She could hear snoring from inside. She froze. What if they would be mad at her too? She contemplated going back to her room and just sleeping on the floor, but her wet pajamas were cold and clammy and stuck to her legs. She carefully creaked open the door and made her way in the room.  

Angela was awoken by a soft poking on her arm. “Humm?” She sleepily lifted an eyelid and Hana’s blurry form came into view. In an instant, Angela was fully awake. “Hana? What’s wrong?” She sat up immediately. Hana sniffled and stayed silent, Tokki clutched close.

Angela was confused for a moment until the acrid smell of urine reached her nose. It didn’t take long for the doctor to connect the dots. She threw the covers off and stood. “Did you have a bad dream?” she asked, and the little girl nodded. “It’s alright, dear. Why don’t we get you cleaned up and you can sleep with us?” she offered kindly. Hana nodded again.

Angela led Hana to the bathroom to get cleaned up. The doctor stripped the girl of her sodden pajamas and wet a wash rag to clean her off. Once she was done she found a clean pair of pajamas for Hana to step into. She noticed Hana’s sheets were a tangled mess on the floor and the wet stain on the fitted sheet.

While Hana got dressed, Angela collected the dirty sheets and put them in the washroom to be dealt with in the morning. When she came back, Hana stood wearily in her room wearing her clean pajamas. Angela smiled and led Hana back to the room.

“Hop in,” she whispered to Hana. Soon, the little girl was snuggling in between the two women as she had done the previous night. “Goodnight.” Angela pulled the covers over the two of them. Hana couldn’t reply, as she was already asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOW WE HAVE PLOT!   
> If you have questions, concerns, criticism or if you just want to ramble about this universe hit me up on twitter! @MonstrosityTofu  
> ...once I figure out how twitter works...


	3. Neon Pink Passion

Days flew by. Hana invading Angela and Fareeha’s bed became recurrent. Even when she was put to bed in her own room, Fareeha still usually awoke with a tiny fist in her face and Angela would wake halfway off the bed. While Hana’s sleep improved, Angela and Fareeha’s suffered.

Fareeha rested her head on the kitchen island, dozing. Her black hair fell in front of her face like a curtain. Angela sat next to her sipping her morning coffee, staring sleepily into space. Luckily for them Hana was still asleep.

“We have to do something,” Fareeha groaned as she lazily lifted her head. “I can’t keep sleeping like this.”

“Agreed.” Angela took a sip of her coffee. She felt the rush of the bitter caffeine flow through her veins. “She refuses to sleep on her own anymore.” 

Fareeha nodded. “Well, at least the bedwetting stops when she sleeps with us. Thank the gods.”

“The nightmares don’t. How many times have we been woken up because she’s crying in her sleep? This isn’t something we can ignore,” Angela said. “We can talk to my fathers. They might know something.”

It was silent for a moment as Fareeha processed what to say next. “Did you ever have nightmares this bad as a kid?” she asked. To everyone else, Angela’s life before Jack was an off-limits topic. The only person allowed to ask about it was Fareeha, and even with her it was a touchy subject. 

“Never this bad,” Angela shook her head, before taking another sip of coffee.

The familiar rush of small footsteps alerted both women that they were no longer alone, as Hana appeared behind them. Her hair was a mess as usual, and her stuffed bunny was securely in place in her arms. As usual, she held her  _ Nintendo DSiDK  _ tightly in her hands. She scrambled up the tall barstool and took her place at the kitchen island.

“What’s for breakfast?” she asked, staring at her game, completely oblivious to the fact that both women had barely slept thanks to her.

“Does cereal sound good?” Angela offered, moving to the cupboard. Hana nodded without looking up.

“How would you like to see Grandpa Jack and  _ Abuelo  _ today?” Fareeha asked, catching Hana’s attention and her face lit up.

“Yeah!” She swayed on the barstool excitedly. Angela set a bowl of Cheerios in front of her and she dug into them. Fareeha felt like she was watching a documentary on vicious predators.

“We’ll go see them later today then.” Angela poured herself yet another cup of coffee.

 

\----

 

Angela called her fathers at The Watchpoint to be sure it was okay if they came to the bar. Of course Gabriel was delighted and wanted to show off his granddaughter to everyone. 

Most of the day was spent trying to convince Hana to change into something other than her pajamas. It was a long battle, but Fareeha was eventually able to coax her into a pair of shortalls. Angela completed the ensemble by putting the girl’s hair into pigtails complete with pink bows.

Once Hana was dressed, the two women were finally able to get themselves ready. Hana entertained herself with  _ 16-Bit Hero Handheld  _ as she sat on the couch waiting.

“Fareeha, have you seen my lipstick?” Angela asked from the bathroom.

“Nope, have you asked Hana?” Fareeha poked her head in. Angela just sighed and shook her head.

“Nevermind,” Angela sighed. “Hana! Let’s go!”

They were on their way to the bar.

Hana carried Tokki under one arm and played her video game the entire walk there. She didn’t pay attention to anything else as they passed by several houses on the way. Fareeha noticed as they walked that many houses still had full trash cans out for collection. 

“Wasn’t trash day like two days ago?” She asked her wife. 

Angela nodded, “yes but there’s a strike going on at the garbage dump. I heard the news say that omnics are striking after finding out they are making less money than the human workers.” 

Fareeha’s face turned grim. “Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Angela shrugged.

“Not at all. After the Omnic Crisis treaties were put into place, that kind of discrimination was supposed to be abolished. A lot of closed-minded people are still upset that omnics have the same rights as humans,” Angela explained, as the three made it to the door of the unassuming bar.

Had Fareeha not grabbed her shortall strap, Hana would have run face-first into the door. The little girl was so infatuated with her game that nothing else seemed to exist. 

“You have to watch where you’re going,  _ liebling _ ,” Angela cautioned before opening the door. Instantly the sights and sounds of the active social gathering place flooded Hana’s senses. The bar was bustling with activity of customers both regular and new. Fareeha scanned the bar as she usually did, looking for their friends. Lena was rushing back and forth between tables, and Genji was behind the bar talking with Jack and Gabriel.

Hana seemed overwhelmed and slid herself behind Angela in an attempt to hide. She noticed and bent down to reassure the girl. “Hana, you remember Grandpa Jack and  _ Abuelo _ ?” Hana nodded. “Let’s find them.” She took the girls hand and directed her towards the bar.

Gabriel spotted them first. “ _ Nieta _ !” He pushed his way around the bar to pick the girl up. Hana visibly relaxed, much to Angela’s relief. “It is good to see you again! Have you been practicing on your bike?” He asked with a grin. Hana nodded. She rubbed her hands on his goatee. It was scruffy and it tickled! That elicited a laugh from the former soldier. “Come! You have to meet the staff!” He whisked Hana to where Genji stood making drinks and sat her down on the bar.

The little girl was enamored by the green in Genji’s hair. She had never seen anything like it before and she reached out to touch it. The lanky man laughed, his grin taking up his entire face. “You must be Hana,” he smiled, leaning over so she could touch his hair. “My name is Genji and I heard you like video games.” The little girl perked up immediately and nodded excitedly. “Well, we’ll have to see how good you are sometime then. I bet I can beat you at  _ Ice Witch’s Snowball Offensive _ .” He winked at her, making Hana blush. “Hey, Lúcio! Come see who’s here!”

The kitchen doors swung open. “Yo! Hana’s here!” A trim man with long dreadlocks glided over to them. “Hey there, kiddo! I’m Lúcio. Did you like the headphones I got you?” he asked. Hana nodded. 

“Hana’s here!?” chirped the British woman who suddenly appeared next to them. “You finally made it out, love. I thought your mums would never let you out of the house!” 

“We’ve been pretty busy setting everything up,” Fareeha defended. 

Lena didn’t pay any mind as she played with Hana’s hair. “My name is Lena,” she introduced.

“What game ya got there?” Lúcio asked, leaning over to peer at the game Hana held in her hands.

“And what’s this little guy’s name?” Lena giggled as she flapped the ears on Tokki. Hana yanked her bunny away and shoved her hand into the pocket of her shortalls. Fareeha sensed the girl’s unease and was ready to speak up, but Gabriel beat her to it. 

“Don’t you two have work to do? It’s not like I pay you to stand there and gawk at my granddaughter,” he growled, but it was only met with laughter.

“Aw c’mon Gabe! It’s not every day Angie and ‘Reeha come by, with a kid no less!” Lena teased. Fareeha shared a thankful look with her father-in-law.

Angela took a seat at the bar near Jack, who was cleaning several glasses and inspecting them for spots. He liked his glassware immaculate. As usual, he kept a silent vigil over the bar, simply watching everything unfold.

“Can I ask you something?” Angela asked. Jack set the glass down to give her his full attention.

“Always, Angela,” he replied with a smile. 

Angela took a deep breath. “I have…concerns, about Hana.” 

Jack quirked an eyebrow up. “Is she alright?”

“I mean, she’s adjusting fine…for the most part. But she has nightmares constantly. I keep catching her crying in her sleep. She regularly sleeps in our bed and she refuses to sleep alone.” Angela’s shoulders relaxed, as if a terrible weight had been lifted. The blonde tucked one of her bangs behind her ear before continuing. “We’re lucky that the bedwetting has stopped, for the most part. It still happens from time to time, but never with us.” Angela sighed and rested her elbows on the table, cradling her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do.”

Jack calmly set the glass down on the bar before taking a deep breath. “I’ll be honest with you,” he started. “Back in my time with the Army, there were guys in the barracks who would wake up screaming.” Jack looked off past Angela as he remembered. “Oftentimes, we would calm them down and just go back to bed. But those men, they were strong men, some of the strongest I have ever seen.” He refocused his gaze back to Angela. “But war doesn’t discriminate. Even the strongest men learn fear. With Hana, I worry it may be something similar.” Angela’s degree wasn’t in psychology and quite frankly the topic eluded her. The doctor frowned. 

The ding of the door opening pulled her out of her contemplation. Angela turned around in time to see two women walk in. One was tall and slender with long black hair. Her dress was a light blue and pressed perfectly and she wore long gloves up to her elbows. 

The other woman was shorter. Her hair was shaved down on one side and was long and purple on the other. Her perfectly manicured nails glinted in the dim light of the bar and she wore a frameless pair of glasses on her face. The two were so wrapped up in conversation they left the door open.

“Sombra! The door!” Gabriel shouted, causing the young woman with purple hair to jump.

“ _ Mierda _ !” Sombra yelped, startled, before closing the door and muttering something about automatic doors. 

The tall woman snickered and walked over to their little group. Hana watched as every move the woman made seemed to be with calculated precision.

“Hana’s here!” Lena announced, as if it wasn’t already apparent.

“I see,” the woman spoke. “I am Satya. It is good to meet you Hana.” The little girl nodded, holding Tokki close as all of these new people surrounded her.

“Why are  _ we  _ just now getting to meet her? Everyone else already has,” Sombra asked as she walked up. She shot a glare at Fareeha and crossed her arms. 

“They didn’t want you to scare her, Sombra,” Gabriel fired. Sombra stuck her tongue out at the man, causing Hana to giggle.

“Nice glasses, Sombra. I didn’t know you wore them,” Lúcio changed the subject.

“That’s because these are not just  _ any  _ glasses,” Sombra grinned. “Satya brought them in, what did you call them?”

“They are called Vishkar View. A prototype I’ve been working on,” Satya answered proudly. It was no secret that Vishkar, the cutting-edge technology company had their collective eye on the budding architect. After all, they were paying for her college and had already offered her a job once she graduates. “Sombra is helping me test them.”

“I helped program them. They can search the web, record in real time, and even live-stream!” Sombra took them off and held them up for everyone to see. Hana made a move to grab them but Sombra pulled them away. “Not for children,” she warned.

“Bartender!” shouted an Italian voice from a table nearby. Lena turned to see two men, both in suits. A large bald man with a full black beard and cybernetic enhancements visible on his face held up his empty glass. “Another!” he demanded. 

The man who sat with him was less man and more machine. He was an omnic, which was uncommon to see in a bar, considering omnics don’t drink. His body was silver, eyes red, and he had six dotted red lights on his forehead. His face seemed to permanently be set in a scowl. 

“I’ll take care of it, Lena,” Gabriel said. “Those two have been sitting there for hours, and they’re getting on my last nerve.” He walked off.

Now unpatrolled, Hana was left to her own devices and she was able to properly survey the entire room. The omnic sent shivers down her spine, but she was drawn to the table next to them, where two misfit men idly chatted amongst themselves. 

Hana’s attention was pulled to the younger man who seemed to be laughing maniacally at his own joke. His blonde hair was wild on top of his head and he was animated as he spoke. He was so engrossed in the story he was telling that he didn’t notice Hana creep up behind him. The other man was very overweight and surprisingly tall, even while sitting. His silver-blonde hair was pulled back tightly in a ponytail. Hana was intrigued by the medical mask he wore over his face.

The large man held his hand up and stopped the younger one from rambling. “What’s the matter?” the scrawny man asked in a thick Australian accent. The large man pointed a meaty finger at Hana. 

The scrawny man turned around to see the little girl. He broke out into a large mangle-toothed grin. “Oi! It’s Angie and ‘Reeha’s little shiela! Did’ja get the lighter I sent ya?” he asked with a howling laugh. The larger man simply scowled at him.

“The name’s Jamie. You can call me Junkrat!” He held out his hand for her to shake. She simply stared at it, unsure of what to do.

“Junk…rat?” Hana repeated, unsure of this new word.

“That’s the name!” Jamie leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, throwing his prosthetic one over his real one. “This here’s Mako,” he pointed to the large man with a thumb. Jamie leaned closer to Hana and whispered in her ear. “He don’t bite. The mask is just for his allergies.”

Hana was captivated by these two characters. Her eyes were wide as they locked on to Jamie’s fake leg. “What’s that?” She pointed to it.

“My leg.” Answered Jamie, knocking on the fake limb. “Pretty, ain’t she?” Hana’s brown eyes went wide.

“What happened?” she asked meekly. 

Jamie’s face went dark and he glanced up to Mako. “It was during the Australian Civil War. Damn omnics laid explosives everywhere.” A shiver went down Hana’s spine at the mention of the omnics. Jamie seemed to have similar sentiment as he spoke the word with disgust. “’S not all bad though. Uncle Mako here got me out an’ we moved ‘ere!” His grin was back.

“Omnics did that?” Hana asked, shocked. 

Before Jamie could answer, a loud crash drew everyone’s attention to the table over, where the two men in suits had begun arguing. The large man had smashed his freshly filled glass of beer to the floor.

“You dirty bunch ‘a bolts!” he yelled. “Ya stiffed me!” The entire bar fell silent. The omnic stood casually and dusted off his suit.

“I did no such thing, Antonio. That business venture was your own mistake,” he said calmly, adjusting his tie.

“You liar!” growled the angry man as he thrust an accusatory finger in the omnic’s direction.

What happened next occurred so quickly that not even Genji’s honed reflexes were enough to react. Instantly, a small girl was lunging at the omnic man with an insane scream, fists clenched. Angela was frozen in place as she saw Hana fly into a rage and throw herself at him recklessly. She had already knocked over two chairs on the way over to him and was in full attack mode.

While the omnic man could have easily picked Hana up and held her at bay, instead he deliberately stepped to the side to avoid her, causing her to crash face-first into the adjacent table.

Everyone was silent. The little girl stood up, nose bleeding. Fueled by adrenaline, she threw herself at the omnic again, screaming something in Korean that neither Angela or Fareeha could make out. This time the omnic held her back with his arm, blood dripping on his suit. 

“Who’s brat is this?” he shouted. Fareeha stepped forward and picked Hana up by the straps of her shortalls. The little girl flailed wildly, punching the air with her tiny fists and screaming more Korean gibberish.

“Hana!” Fareeha carried the girl back over to the bar, where Angela took her in her arms. It was then that Angela noticed the hastily drawn pink lines on Hana’s face. They were the same parallel lines that she remembered seeing in Korea and during the thunderstorm weeks ago.

“Hana, calm down,  _ schatz _ !” She fought and struggled in Angela’s grip, dripping blood from her nose all over the woman’s white blouse. It was as if Hana didn’t recognize who anyone was; she was in a blind rage. “Hana, please!” Angela pleaded again as Hana tried to push herself away. 

“ **D.Va! STOP!** ” Angela snapped. 

Hana froze.

Everyone saw the little girl’s entire demeanor change. She stopped struggling immediately and slumped in Angela’s grasp. She blinked and panted as the adrenaline wore off, and she realized she was in pain. She began to cry.

“You better keep that girl on a leash!” barked the omnic as he futilely tried to get the blood stain out of his sleeve with a napkin. “You owe me a new suit! This thing cost me a fortune!” 

“Oi! She’s a kid!” Jamie stood up in defense of the girl. Mako noticed a discarded lipstick tube on the floor. He eyed it curiously.  _ Neon Pink Passion _ ?

“An insane one at that,” the omnic snapped back. Jamie growled, ready for a fight himself, until Mako placed a hand on his shoulder. Jamie spat towards the metal man and sat back down.

“That’s it! You two, out!” Jack’s voice roared over everyone and again the bar was silent, save for Hana’s muffled cries.

“Aww, now look what ya did Max,” Antonio rolled his eyes with a chuckle. He seemed unfazed by the whole ordeal and even smirked a bit as he set a crumpled tip on the table.

“I did nothing, Antonio.” The omnic glared at those who stood at the bar. “That…  _ child _ ... attacked me. This is why I’m glad omnics don’t procreate.”

Gabriel strode towards the two men, fuming. “Get out of my bar. Now.” 

“C’mon Max, we shoulda never have stopped in this dump in the first place,” Antionio scoffed “We’ll finish this discussion elsewhere.” The entire bar sat in stunned shock as the two men left, acting as if nothing had ever happened.

Fareeha finally broke the silence. “We…should get going.” Angela nodded, cradling the still crying child in her arms. The three left for home without another word.


	4. Waves of Change

Hana was grumpy on the car ride back from the doctor’s office. She had a large bandage on her nose to keep it straight as it healed. She held Tokki close to her chest as she stared vacantly out the window. Angela watched her from the rear view mirror, and she could feel her heart breaking. Her focus was only broken by her phone vibrating.

  _“Hey, how’s the kid?”_ It was Jesse texting her. While she hadn’t outright told her brother about the events at the bar the previous day, she was sure their fathers had told him everything by now.

  _“She’s fine. The pediatrician said she broke her nose. We’re on our way home now,”_ Angela replied.

  _“Well some of us were going to head to the beach. Would y’all like to join?”_ Even through text message, Jesse’s distinct drawl came through.

 Angela thought for a moment. “Fareeha,” she turned to her wife, “Jesse is asking if we would like to go to the beach.”

 Fareeha smiled. “That sounds nice. We can swing by that one kid’s store to get Hana a swimsuit. Kiddie Klothes, I think it’s called.”

 Angela’s face lit up, and she texted Jesse back that they would meet him at the beach.

 

\---

 

Jesse and Hanzo were waiting for them in the parking lot at the beach. While Hanzo wore his typical blue swim trunks and black tank top, Jesse had bright red swim trunks and a straw hat in place of his typical cowboy one. He looked like a lifeguard, complete with the streaks of sunscreen on his nose. They stood outside of the truck idly chatting before Jesse noticed them pull up.

“‘Bout time y’all showed up,” Jesse greeted them with a tip of his hat when they stepped out of the car.

“Sorry we’re late. We had to buy Hana a swimsuit,” Angela replied. Hana was wearing her new swimsuit. The top had long sleeves and was decorated in a pink floral pattern. The bottoms were a solid pink. Overtop she wore a light blue life jacket with a similar floral pattern.

Fareeha burst into laughter after seeing Jesse’s ridiculous outfit. “What are you wearing?”

“What? This? It’s my summer hat,” Jesse said smugly. “Hanzo likes it. Don’tcha, Han?” He elbowed Hanzo in the arm.

The Japanese man opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything he was taken by surprise as small arms wrapped around his legs.

Like a wild animal being released from her cage, Hana pounced on her uncles, giving them each a hug. Jesse scooped the giggling girl up.

“Nice lookin’ swimsuit, darlin’!” Jesse grinned. Hana smiled in return. It hurt her broken nose to smile but she did anyway. “Ready?” he asked and set Hana down. She nodded eagerly in response.

“Hold on! Let me put sunscreen on you,” Angela said. She began to dig into her large beach bag searching for her SPF 120 sunscreen.

Hana squirmed as Angela gently put sunscreen on her face. The little girl tried to pull away but Angela was quicker and lotioned her up.

“Are we ready?” Jesse laughed after Angela was done doting on Hana. “Mei, Zarya, Brigitte, and Amélie are waitin’!” He started walking towards the beach, Hanzo trailing behind.

Angela and Fareeha followed with Hana lagging behind. The little girl wanted to see everything. She was so enamored with the sand she didn’t even look up as they trekked across the beach where the umbrellas were already set up.

“Angela! Fareeha!” A new voice drew Hana’s attention up. However instead of seeing new friends all she could see was the vast dark ocean.

The thunderous crash of the waves was all she could hear as the dark clouds and smoke blocked out the sun. Around her was the rubble of a once vibrant and active city. She didn’t need to look behind her to know Busan was in ruins behind her. She could feel the air tickle the back of her neck as she stared straight ahead, unable to move.

Standing out there ominously was the omnic of the sea. It made the seagulls flying around it look like nothing more than pinpricks dotting the sky. Water cascaded off of the glinting black metal of the main body and the four arachnid-like legs it stood on. Hana could feel the stare of the red eyes boring deep into her soul. She knew that if she moved it would torch her to oblivion like it did to the city behind her. She had to be brave.

She needed D.Va.

Where was D.Va?

A new wave of panic raced up her throat as she realized she didn’t bring the lipstick. D.Va was nowhere. It was just Hana alone now with the giant Omnic of the Sea. 

“Hana?” A familiar voice pulled the little girl’s attention away and instead she faced the warm blue eyes and gentle face of Angela. The woman looked worried as she knelt down to Hana’s height to look her in the eyes.

Hana turned back to the ocean. The dark sky was replaced by a bright summer one. Behind her wasn’t Busan but the parking lot they just came from. The sand wasn’t littered with smoldering debris and blood. It was regular golden sand that was warm on her feet.

There was no Omnic of the Sea, just the gentle rolling of the waves coming in and out. And four new faces who looked completely shocked to see the little girl with such a raw look of terror in her eyes and a broken nose.

_“Liebchen,”_ Angela grabbed Hana’s attention again by stroking her face first before pulling her into a hug, “You’re alright.” Angela could hear how fast Hana’s heart was beating and how stiff she felt when Angela wrapped her arms around the little girl. “You’re here. You’re right here, with me,” Angela whispered into the little girl’s ear. Slowly, Angela could hear Hana’s heart rate begin to even out and her breathing began to deepen.

Angela pulled away when she deemed that Hana had calmed down enough.

Upon seeing the new faces, she was now filled with a different type of terror. Hana backed up until she felt Fareeha’s legs, and she grabbed onto them. Fareeha placed an assuring hand on Hana’s head, and for some reason the girl felt calmer.

“Hana, these are our friends.” Angela made sure she was still in Hana’s line of sight as Hana’s eyes darted between the four women.

“My name is Brigitte!” The tall young woman spoke first. Her brunette hair was braided, and she sported a tan. “I’m Torbjörn daughter. It is wonderful to meet you, Hana!” She knelt over with a braces-clad smile, her freckles standing out against her deep tan.

“You can call me Zarya!” The much taller woman with bright pink hair spoke next. Her voice was deep and thick with a Russian accent. Her large muscles rippled as she pointed to herself.

“Amélie,” was the curt introduction by the aloof French woman who didn’t even bother to lower her sunglasses. Her long black hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

“And I’m Mei,” introduced the small Chinese woman. She visibly flinched as she saw the splint on Hana’s nose. Word must have traveled fast about the bar incident from the previous day. “Have you ever been to the beach before?” Mei bent over to get closer to Hana. The little girl’s eyes darted from Angela to Mei before she shook her head.

“Then we shall show you! There is plenty to do! We were going to play beach volleyball!” Zarya glared challengingly at Brigitte.

 A wicked smile lit up the face of the young Swedish girl. “Are you ready for a rematch already Zarya? I can surely beat you again,” she called back.

“ _Nyet_. Not this time, little one. I pick Fareeha to be on my team. You can have Jesse,” Zarya returned.

Jesse and Fareeha looked at each other with concern as they were roped in to some kind of Spartan volleyball tournament.

Amélie dramatically rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses. “Children,” she muttered before turning heel and going back to her beach chair. She had a little spot under an umbrella to provide adequate shade. Hanzo followed and set up his own beach chair in the shade of her umbrella.

“Hana’s too young to play beach volleyball,” Mei pointed out before Angela could. She turned to Hana. “Would you like to build a sandcastle?”  

Hana slowly nodded her head before nervously looking to Angela for assurance.

“I’ll be right over here,” Angela smiled as she pointed to the umbrella. She walked that way and laid out her beach blanket in the remaining shade of the umbrella.

“That settles it!” Zarya grinned and grabbed Fareeha’s wrist and practically dragged the fit woman to the volleyball court.

Brigitte steamed. “C’mon, Jesse! We can beat them!” She stomped to the court to take on her rival.

That left Hana with Mei. The petite woman had a very friendly look about her but Hana was still nervous. “Here Hana,” Mei stood and began to walk towards the water.

Panic rose in Hana’s throat and she scrambled to her feet. She didn’t want the nice woman to get eaten by the water! But Mei stopped where the sand was wet and crouched down. Hana looked at her quizzically.

She watched with increasing curiosity as Mei began to pile the sand into three balls and stacked those balls on top of each other. She found some small pieces of driftwood and stuck one on either side of the middle ball. She added two tiny seashells for eyes and grinned and sat back. “Look, Hana! A snowman!” She beckoned the girl over and Hana stepped closer.

It did look like a snowman, and Hana couldn’t help but giggle. She began to form more balls of wet sand and tried stacking them on top of each other like Mei did. She formed three lumps and stacked them. She found two oddly-shaped pieces of driftwood for arms and she couldn’t find any shells so she stuck two rocks in place of the eyes.

When all was said and done Hana’s “snowman” looked more like some eldritch horror that went through an incinerator. But it was progress.

The two continued making sand creatures with Hana being sure to skirt the edge of the sand where it met the water. She kept Mei in between her and the ocean for comfort.

After several volleyball matches, Zarya, Brigitte, Fareeha, and Jesse ran to the ocean to cool off. They were still arguing over the ruling of the game-winning point that put Brigitte and Jesse above Zarya and Fareeha.

“Come, Mei!” Zarya called over. “Join us for a swim!”

Mei turned to Hana, “I’m going to go in the water. You keep making all those cool animals.” She smiled before running to the ocean.

Hana continued in her own little world of building sand creatures of all different shapes and sizes. Hana was so absorbed in her work, in fact, that she didn’t notice time passing by and the tide pulling closer. When the cold water touched her feet, Hana yelped and scrambled backwards, flailing helplessly to put distance between herself and the ocean.

As if she flew, Angela was immediately at the girl’s side. “Hana, the water’s not going to hurt you.” She helped the little girl to her feet. Hana shivered and grabbed into Angela’s sundress.

“That is right!” Zarya called from where they bobbed in the water, “I can easily punch it!” She punched the water, splashing everyone and the group erupted in laughter and then into a splashing contest.

“Come, why don’t you sit with me for a bit?” Angela offered and guided Hana back to the shade of the umbrella. The little girl sat on the beach towel and dug in her large beach bag to pull out several plastic buckets and shovels for Hana to play with.

The girl happily played with the toys, and though it was nothing like her video games she still enjoyed the sand. Angela smiled and went back to reading her sappy romance novel.

In several minutes the group from the ocean came back. Fareeha laid herself on the sand next to Angela to catch some sun. Mei pulled her cooler over to where the rest of them had set up. She pulled out a bottle of wine, offering it to the group.

Amélie and Angela both took a glass of wine with Mei. Zarya and Brigitte continued their rivalry with a game of Frisbee on the beach. It was a lovely, peaceful scene.

And like all things, peace can only last so long. 

“C’mon, kiddo,” Jesse whispered to Hana. “I’ll show ya some real fun.” He helped her up to her feet and led her where his large beach bag was sitting behind Hanzo. He put a finger over his lips in a signal to keep her quiet as he pulled out two assault-style squirt guns.

Hana looked quizzically at it when he handed her the pink and purple one. With a wicked grin, Jesse led Hana a little ways away from the group.

“It’s real easy. Just point to yer moms and pull the trigger!” Jesse whispered.

Just like in her video games, Hana did just that; she aimed the water gun and fired. The sun glinted off the arc the water made as it soared through the air to land precisely between where Fareeha was asleep sunbathing and Angela absorbed in her book. The resulting splash startled both women as Fareeha shot bolt upright, and Angela instinctively used her book as a shield.

Both women were taken by surprise when they looked back and saw Hana holding the water gun and Jesse howling with laughter. Even Hanzo was hiding a laugh, having a front row seat to the attack.

A playful grin crossed Fareeha’s face. “Oh, yeah?” She scrambled to her feet and gave chase.

“Hana! Run!” Jesse was laughing as he hightailed it in the opposite direction.

Hana was all giggles as Fareeha chased her across the beach. Her tiny legs couldn’t carry her for long before Fareeha caught up with her and scooped her up. “Gotcha now!” Fareeha laughed and tickled the girl mercilessly until she dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Soon, the sun began to set over the bay and everyone packed up to go. Hana was entirely worn out and fell asleep in the back of the car on the way home.

After Hana was put to bed Angela snuggled up next to her wife in their bed. “ _Meine Liebe.”_ Angela got Fareeha’s attention before she turned off the bedroom light.

“Yeah?” Fareeha shot an eyebrow up.

“I think we’re doing this right.” Angela let out a breath of relief. Fareeha thought back on the day, what started out as horrible doctor visits turned into something completely different.

“Yeah, I think we are too.” Fareeha smiled before she turned off the light and snuggled next to her wife before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer's block sucks. 0/10 don't recommend.
> 
> That being said, I now have a tumblr where I will post doodles of this universe and other fanfictions I am working on. If you have any questions or want to say hi hit me up over here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tofuwritesthings


	5. The Video

The endless weeks of summer rolled by. Hana’s nose healed, leaving only a small scar on the bridge of her nose as proof it was ever broken in the first place. Like the fading of the scar, Angela hoped that the memories of the bar incident would fade too.

The mid-afternoon sun hung in the sky with only slight interruption by a few fluffy white clouds that passed by. The strong breeze played with Angela’s hair as she sat on the back patio sipping her afternoon iced coffee. 

To Angela there was no wrong time for coffee.

Fareeha was out in the yard with the contractor they hired to take estimates for a fence. Angela couldn’t hear what they were saying but judging by the animated way Fareeha spoke to him she knew it wasn’t good. 

Hana had her own little patio chair where she stayed close to Angela. She watched the scene from a safe distance away from the strange man. She had two Popsicles, one for her and the other one for her stuffed bunny, Tokki, sitting beside her. 

After a few more minutes Fareeha shooed the man away and stormed back to the patio. “I’m not even going to tell you what his estimate was,” she said as she plopped down on her patio chair. 

“That bad?” Angela asked before taking another sip of her coffee. 

Fareeha’s dark eyes turned to her. “He says because the soil is so rocky he would have to have two crews come out and work on it,” she explained.

“Did he say how long it would take?” Angela asked.

“For all of it, like two months,” Fareeha answered.

Angela nearly spit out her drink, “two months? Akande is visiting next week for a home visit! If we don’t have a plan for a fence by then…” 

Hana perked up at the mention of her case worker, “Mister ‘Kande coming?” she asked as the remainder of the second Popsicle melted to the ground.

Fareeha didn’t respond. Instead she stood up and walked around to the garage. Both Angela and Hana watched as she came back with a shovel. Fareeha marched right out to where she and the contractor had been discussing and jammed it right into the ground. 

Angela sighed. She knew how hard-headed her wife could be. “Hana, why don’t you help me with dinner?” The little girl sprang to her feet and followed her inside. 

It was only a few minutes later when Fareeha came stomping back inside, sweat trailing down her forehead and her legs covered in dirt.

Angela looked up from where she was slicing carrots. “ _Schatz_ , what happened?” 

“I hit a rock,” Fareeha grumbled before ascending the stairs to start a shower. Angela had to stifle a giggle as she looked out the back patio doors to see that Fareeha had dug a sizeable hole that she could assume was meant for a fence post. 

The doorbell rang and Hana scrambled to her feet from where she was stacking pots and pans on the floor and raced to the front door. “Mine!” 

“Hana!” Angela raced after her and scooped her up in her arms before the little girl could make it to the door. “Don’t answer the door to strangers, _honig_ ,” she lightly scolded. Hana seemed disappointed as she squirmed to be set free. Angela looked through the peephole of the door before opening it wide. 

Jamie and Mako stood on the other side, the former with a wide, yellow-toothed grin on his face. Between them was a wheelbarrow filled with all sorts of junk, from cardboard boxes to glass bottles and car parts.

“G’day!” Jamie greeted with a small salute, “Mako and I ‘ave been goin’ door to door to collect trash. Ya know, since the bloody omnic strike at the dump we’ve been doin’ our own form of collection! So we was wonderin’ if’n ya had any trash ya wanna get rid of.” 

“I’m sure we probably do…” Angela set Hana down to go look in their garage for any miscellaneous clutter they had laying around. 

That was when Hana spotted it. It was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Its pristine sides rose up to the sky as if it were embracing the sun. Its corners were the perfect rounded edge. It was perfectly square, even on all sides. The best part was that there were no markings on it at all. It was the best cardboard box she had ever laid eyes on. She tugged on Jamie’s pant leg urgently. 

“Can I have?” She asked, pointing to the pristine box. Jamie followed her gaze. 

“That box there? Sure I don’t see why not.” He shrugged and took it off of the top of the pile and handed it to Hana. The box dwarfed the small girl. She proudly carried her newest acquisition into the house just as Angela came back with some outdated medical textbooks to add to the wheelbarrow of junk before bidding them farewell.

Fareeha was out of the shower and drying her hair as Hana marched up to her in the living room. 

“Hey Hana, whatcha got there?” she asked as she looked quizzically between the huge cardboard box, Hana, and Angela who was in the kitchen cleaning up the mess of pots and pans that Hana had made. 

“Cut a hole,” Hana demanded, pointing to one side of the box. “Big as my face!” She bounced excitedly as she spoke. 

“Manners, _tayir saghir_ ,” Fareeha corrected.

“Please?” Hana added. 

Fareeha smiled and picked up the box. “You want a hole as big as your face?” she asked to be sure she understood the little girl right. Hana nodded furiously before following Fareeha into the kitchen. Fareeha grabbed a large kitchen knife and cut a hole in the side of the box a little bit bigger than Hana’s face (for safety). “Here you are.” She passed the box back and Hana raced upstairs with it.

 

\----

 

“Hana! Dinner!” Angela yelled up the stairs after a while. The little girl had been uncharacteristically quiet while dinner was being made, and Angela’s mind had been spinning with possible scenarios Hana had gotten herself into. In only a few moments however, Hana nearly tumbled down the stairs wearing the cardboard box around her. 

The way that Hana wore the box was familiar to both women, as she had one similar back in Korea. The thing was colored in pink marker and decorated in more stickers and glitter than a party store. Fareeha noticed the angry little bunny face that Hana liked to draw appearing more than once on the box. 

“Ah, I see you’ve made a new robot,” Fareeha said as Hana tried to get on the chair at the table with the box still on. 

“Yup!”  Hana replied, still struggling. 

“Well, robots don’t eat, so eject yourself for dinner,” Angela expertly rebutted, and Hana obeyed. The five-year-old threw the box off over herself and scrambled to the table for food.

Figuring out what Hana would and wouldn’t eat was more difficult than medical school to Angela. The little girl mostly pushed her food around, avoiding the vegetables. 

Fareeha was about to say something when the doorbell interrupted her. Hana perked up, forgetting her food. 

“I’ll get it.” Angela went to answer the door, looking through the peephole. Seeing familiar green-tipped hair, she opened the door fully. “Genji? We didn’t expect any company,” she greeted and moved aside for him to come in.

Genji didn’t move forward. In fact, he bounced on the balls of his feet anxiously. He looked as if he had seen a ghost, and he wouldn’t stop fidgeting with his phone in his hand. 

Angela felt her stomach sink. Whatever Genji was here for, it didn’t look good. “Is everything all right?” she reluctantly asked. 

“Angela, I need to talk to you,” he squeaked out. His normally outgoing and boisterous personality was gone. “Can we do it outside?” 

Angela stepped through the threshold and closed the door behind her. “Genji, what’s going on?” Angela felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter up her throat. 

“There’s something you need to see,” Genji stopped fiddling with his phone to instead type on it. He pulled up a video and pressed play.

 

**_“You dirty bunch ‘a bolts! Ya stiffed me!”_ **

**_“I did no such thing, Antonio. That business venture was your own mistake,”_ **

**_“You liar!”_ **

 

Angela’s face went white as she watched in vivid color that night at the bar. The night that Hana attacked the omnic man. Everything that happened was on the small screen on some video uploading site. Angela felt like she was going to be sick as she watched herself in the screen too shocked to do anything. She couldn’t even get through the whole thing before she shoved the phone back at Genji.

“What is this? Why is it on the internet? Who did this?” Angela blurted out her questions as she started to feel the hot rage building in her stomach.

Genji swallowed hard and visibly. “I came over here tonight to show you this, because I think you should know.” He scrolled past the video to the comments section and showed her.

Angela couldn’t believe what she was reading. Most of the comments were anti-omnic and filled with hatred and slurs. Many cheered the girl on for “standing up for humankind.” One even said, “This is how the next generation should be raised!” Others questioned the parents. “Why did they wait so long to pull her off of the poor guy?” read one. “Those parents should be ashamed of themselves!” criticized another.

Angela was at a loss for words and she stared dumbfounded at the phone. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” Genji spoke as Angela paged through the comments section, her chest burning with pent up rage. “I know tensions between humans and omnics are high and this paints Hana as some sort of…”

“That is not Hana!” Angela snapped, her eyes like fire. “Those people have no idea what she’s been through!” 

“What’s going on?” Fareeha opened the door and stepped outside with them. The porch light illuminated Angela’s face, and Fareeha could see pinpricks of tears in the corners of her wife’s eyes. 

Angela shoved the phone into Fareeha’s hands, and she stared at it, completely dumbfounded until Genji hit play on the video again. Fareeha’s face went from confused to complete and utter rage within a few seconds. She watched the whole thing and scanned the comments section as well. 

“I don’t understand. Who would do this?” Angela asked Genji. 

“Sombra. She had these prototype glasses that she and Satya have been working on,” Genji explained. “She said it could record video, so she must have had it on.”

“Why would she post it on the internet?” Fareeha asked, voice dripping with venom as she thrust the phone back into Genji’s hands. He cradled his abused phone gently. 

“I don’t know,” Genji replied. “It seems that it’s pretty popular among anti-omnic groups.” 

“Our daughter will not be some figurehead for hate,” Angela snapped, her anger directed towards Genji even though she knew he did nothing wrong. 

“Let me get my shoes. We’re going to find Sombra, and I am going to strangle her!” Fareeha growled. “How dare she not only invade our privacy but to post a video like that!” Fareeha’s dark eyes glistened with rage as she stormed back inside. 

“Fareeha, wait!” Angela called, following with Genji hot on her heels. “We need to think this through.” She caught up to Fareeha as she started mounting the stairs, tugging on her wife’s arm to pull her back. 

“I agree with Angela,” Genji spoke up but cowered when Fareeha’s wild gaze landed on him.

“What do you think we should do then?” Fareeha snapped, her whole body tense as she waited for an answer, her eyes blazing with fury. 

“Talk to my fathers. I’m sure they will have input,” Angela told her. Fareeha eyes snapped to Genji, seeking his thoughts but he stayed silent, his head lowered. 

“It’s Thursday; that’s cards night, so my mother and Reinhardt will be over there as well,” Fareeha told her wife. 

Genji scoffed through his nose, saying sarcastically, “Why not bring the whole block on this? I’m sure Jesse and Hanzo are sitting anxiously by the phone waiting for your call.”

Fareeha glared sharply at Genji, but Angela seemed to think this was a brilliant idea. She was already making phone calls.

 

\----

 

It took all of ten minutes before Jack, Gabriel, Ana, Reinhardt, Jesse, and Hanzo were gathered in the living room of the Amari-Ziegler residence. After showing everyone the video on his phone, Genji kept his phone close to protect it from getting smashed in anger.

“Stop pacing, Gabe,” Jack said from the couch where he watched his husband nearly burn a hole in the floor with his feet.

“I can’t, Jack!” Gabriel stopped to glare at his lover. “I can’t believe Sombra would do something like this!” he growled before continuing his pacing. 

Angela knew that Gabriel and Sombra had something between them. Jesse let it slip once when he was drunk that Gabriel had pulled Sombra out of some gang in Mexico. Angela didn’t know where Sombra lived or what she did aside from work and hanging out at the bar. 

“Well ya better believe it, Pops. That’s Hana in that video.” Jesse leaned forward in the armchair, his elbows on his knees trying to keep reins on his bubbling discontent. Hanzo was like a statue as he sat on the armrest. His face was unreadable but he seemed to be pondering something.

“Has Hana seen it?” Ana looked to Fareeha as she brought back a cup of tea for her mother. 

“No. And she never will,” Fareeha answered. Ana nodded in approval before sipping her tea. 

“Where is the little one then?” Reinhardt asked, his booming voice echoing through the house.

“Well, she was asleep,” Angela answered with a pointed look. Reinhardt looked guiltily at the floor. 

“I think,” Jack spoke up looking directly at Angela, “One or both of you should go see Sombra at work and confront her about it. Tell her to take it down.” He was the only one in the room who was remotely calm. 

“You think that’s going to solve it?” Gabriel shot back. “It’s on the internet! It will stay there forever!” 

“I know,” Jack nodded, “but we need to explain to her what she did.”

“If I go see her I will probably strangle her,” Fareeha growled. Angela put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. 

“I believe you both need to confront her and tell her how serious this is,” Ana spoke up, her voice was even and calm. “I am certain if she sees the comments below that video, she will take it down.” 

Hanzo nodded in agreement. “We should not resort to violence,” he added.

“Alright, then tomorrow we shall-“ Angela began to say but the slow sound of thumping on the stairs halted her train of thought. She spun around to find none other than Hana making her way down the stairs. She looked like she had been crying by the way she rubbed her eyes and held her stuffed bunny closely. “Hana, baby.” Angela met her halfway up the stairs and took her in her arms. 

Hana burrowed her face in Angela’s blonde locks. Angela rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her. “Bad...dreams…” Hana muffled an explanation in broken English as she began to cry. 

Everyone in the room shared concerned looks. Fareeha walked up and stroked Hana’s hair. “You are safe, _ya eazizaa_ ,” she cooed. 

“But...but, but, but, they...omnics…” she muttered in between her muffled tears as slurred Korean before starting to openly and plaintively cry. 

Angela bit her lip and looked worryingly to those assembled. Gabriel stopped pacing and looked to them with a deep-set frown. Jack and Ana shared the same look of sympathy. Genji looked everywhere around the room except Hana. Jesse and Hanzo were silent, Jesse’s leg bouncing as he wanted so badly to help. Reinhardt himself looked like he was about to cry.

“We’ll talk to Sombra in the morning,” Fareeha stated flatly, doing a remarkable job of keeping her emotions in check as she watched Angela carry Hana back to bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My faithful readers,  
> Thank you so much for hanging in there with me. Work has been non-stop and leaves little time for creative frivolities. But I have all of you to thank for keeping up with this work! I can't let you down! Plus I have so so so so many ideas for this universe.  
> As always, feel free to leave me comments, critiques, criticism, or whatever else!  
> Also pester me here! https://www.tumblr.com/blog/tofuwritesthings
> 
> TRANSLATIONS:  
> Schatz (German): Sweetheart  
> Honig (German): Honey  
> Tayir Saghir (Arabic): Small bird (or in this context baby bird)  
> Ya Eazizaa (Arabic): My darling


	6. Confrontation

The rain pounded the top of the car as they pulled into Ana and Reinhardt’s driveway. When Hana was told she was going to see Grandma Ana and Grandpa Reinhardt, she was ecstatic. She insisted on bringing her cardboard “mech” with her, but the rain dampened that idea. However, she always took her stuffed bunny with her, so she held tightly onto him as she bounced excitedly in the car seat.  


“Alright, Hana. You’re going to play with Grandma Ana and Grandpa Reinhardt for a little bit while we go run some errands.” Angela turned back to face Hana from where she sat in the passenger seat. The little girl eagerly looked out the window, seemingly not processing what Angela had said. 

Angela got out of the car and into the rain to unbuckle Hana from the car seat. It was by happenstance that the minute Hana was free was the same instant that Reinhardt opened the front door.  


“ _ Meine enkelin! _ ” he greeted, and Hana darted in the rain to rush up to the old man and wrap her small arms around as much of him as she could. Ana had joined Reinhardt on their small front porch, sheltered from the rain.  


Angela followed behind with an umbrella in one hand and a bag in the other. She didn’t greet her mother-in-law before she began to ramble. “Alright, if anything happens you have my number.” She pulled out a slip of paper with various phone numbers on it before continuing, “Here is her pediatrician’s number as well in case you need it. It would be good to program into your phones.”  


The eyebrow over Ana’s eyepatch shot up on her forehead. “Angela, you’re only going to be gone…” she started to say, but Angela continued as if she hadn’t heard.  


“I have some of her games and toys in here.” She presented the bag. “If she gets hungry there’s some macaroni and cheese already made.”

“Angela…”  


“...All you have to do is heat it up. Make sure to add a little bit of milk or else she won’t eat it. Absolutely no soda no matter what she tells you…” Angela continued to ramble until Ana took the bag from her hands, startling the younger woman into silence.  


“You are only going to be gone for the afternoon, yes?” Ana asked in a deadpan.

Angela bit her lip, looking to Hana who was fully engrossed by one of Reinhardt’s stories. “Sorry,” she apologized, “We have just never been apart from her yet.” Angela fiddled with her hair now that she had a free hand.  


Ana’s visage softened seeing the anxiety that radiated off of the doctor. “Angela, she will be fine,” she said with a warm smile. “Will you be alright?”

Angela tensed again, thinking about the upcoming confrontation. It was easier to worry about Hana than Sombra. She only nodded in response.  


Ana’s expression didn’t change. “You will do fine,” she said, patting Angela’s arm reassuringly. The elder woman could see through any facade. Angela remembered Fareeha calling it her “third eye” and then laughing saying, “Well, I guess it would just be her second.”  


Angela smiled at the memory. She had Fareeha, who was impatiently waiting in the car. Angela knew she would be fine.  


—

Fareeha and Angela stormed through the front door of the cafe with such a force Satya thought the rainstorm had intensified to a hurricane.  


Angela shook out her umbrella and glanced around the sparse cafe. Her predatory eyes landed on Satya, who still clutched the coffee pot in stunned silence.  


“Where is Sombra?” she demanded. Her voice was sharp and had an edge to it Satya had never seen from the doctor.  


“She should be in back, cleaning the espresso machine.” Satya watched as both women stormed back behind the counter and, before Satya could tell them otherwise, they were gone.  


Sombra was leaning against the counter typing rapidly on her phone, any semblance of work long forgotten. Either she didn’t notice the sudden intrusion by the two women or she didn’t care. Her purple hair fell over one side of her face and did little to hide the wicked smile on her lips. Whatever she was doing on her phone was probably sketchy at best.  


“Olivia,” Angela snapped. Sombra’s cool exterior was momentarily shattered as her real name hit her ears. A snarl formed on her lips and she glared at Angela. The young woman hated her given name and demanded everyone she knew call her “Sombra”. It was so common that very few people knew her actual name. And Angela, through her access to medical files (not that she would use it for nefarious purposes), was one of the few people who knew it.  


Sombra whipped her head up with a glare at the two intruders. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.  


Angela fired back, “We’re here to talk to you.”  


Sombra relaxed visibly before she raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, feigning nonchalance, “About what?”

Fareeha was tired of beating around the bush. She already had the video pulled up on her phone, waiting for this moment. “This.” She pressed close to Sombra with her phone held out.  


Sombra’s expression didn’t change as she watched the video of Hana attacking the omnic at the bar. “So?” she asked, her purple eyes flicking up to stare coldly at Fareeha. She didn’t seem the least bit fazed by what she had seen.  


“So?” Angela echoed, her rage growing inside her. “You recorded our daughter, a five-year-old child, without our permission and then posted it on the internet so everyone can see!” Angela’s face grew red with the rage she had been trying to hold in. “Now, she’s become some icon for the anti-omnic movement! People are calling her names and saying that we’re bad parents!”

“I can’t control what some rando on the internet says,” Sombra countered with a slight smirk.  


“You’re the one who put her under that scrutiny!” Angela yelled, inching closer to the shorter woman. “‘Some rando’ would have nothing to say about her if you didn’t broadcast her to the world!” Angela was screaming now.

“Take it down,” Fareeha growled, stepping closer to Sombra, shoulders back, glowering down at the sneering woman.  


Sombra’s eyes narrowed. If anything Fareeha’s intimidation tactics only fueled the fire in her belly. “From what it sounds like, the publicity could only be a good thing for me,” she snarked, straightening her back to her full height which still wasn’t near as tall as the Egyptian. “The glasses I have developed have been approved for widespread beta testing,” she pulled up her email from Vishkar for the women to see.  


That was all it took for Fareeha’s anger to snap. She went to make a lunge at the younger woman. To what end, she wasn’t quite sure but she wanted to slap that self-assured smirk off of Sombra’s face.  


However, before she could make any move, Angela was already in Sombra’s face. With a graceful silence and the speed of a mother cheetah, Angela grabbed Sombra’s phone and snapped it in half.

The room was in a stunned silence.  


Understandably, Sombra was upset that Angela just broke her phone. She stared at the broken pieces of the phone in complete shock and awe. She was shocked not that her phone was destroyed, to be honest, she had three more like it at home. She was in shock that Angela had it in her to break it. She was in awe that both women had it in them to confront her.  


Wordlessly, Angela turned heel and stormed out of the coffee shop. A stunned Fareeha was right on her heels.  


\--------

Neither woman spoke a word as they drove back to Ana and Reinhardt’s. Angela was ready to get Hana and go home, putting all of this behind her.  


When they got to the front door they were accosted by the sounds of childish screaming and banging. Without hesitation Fareeha barged open the door.  


She had never seen her mother’s house such a complete mess. Couch cushions were pulled out and scattered on the floor, furniture was moved, rugs were in heaps, coloring pages littered around like confetti. It looked like a battlefield. Casualties: Reinhardt Wilhelm, who was asleep in the middle of the floor, his face doodled on in several colors of marker and his nails painted haphazardly.  


“What...happened?” Angela asked to no one in particular.

A pile of cushions moved and Hana’s head of tangled hair popped out. “You back!” She scrambled out of the mountain and raced to the two women and grabbed one leg from each of them in a hug. Fareeha didn’t miss the hastily drawn pink lines on Hana’s face.  


The sudden commotion stirred the large man awake and he sat up. “Ah! Angela, Fareeha you are back!  _ Vunderbar! _ ” He looked exhausted as he stood and brushed off the coloring pages.  


Ana appeared from the kitchen, seemingly in the middle of making lunch. “You both are in time for lunch,” she said, still holding a ladle in her hand. “Reinhardt, why don’t you and Hana clean up a bit?” she suggested.

“Yes. Come,  _ schatzchen _ .” Reinhardt was able to pull Hana away so the two could clean all of the marker off of their faces.  


Angela watched them go before she and her wife were yanked by the arm into the kitchen rather forcefully by Ana. “First,” the older woman said once she had them alone, “How did your meeting go?”

“It went well,” Fareeha said. “Angie broke Sombra’s phone, so there’s that.”  


Ana looked impressed. Angela just blushed, feeling ashamed for letting her rage get the best of her.  


“Well good, now that’s done.” Ana whipped out her ladle and directed it at both women. “You have explaining to do.” Any hint at friendly banter was gone as Ana’s voice took an unexpected harsh tone. “Sit,” she ordered, gesturing to the dining room table that sat at the other end of the kitchen.

“Mother?” Fareeha asked as both she and Angela wordlessly obeyed. It felt stupid, but both women had the ice cold feeling of guilt rise from the pit of their stomachs just from Ana’s tone.

“Who is this ‘D.Va’ character?” Ana asked sharply.

Fareeha relaxed a little bit. “Oh, it’s just Hana’s imaginary friend,” she replied.  


Ana stared coldly. “No,” she stated. Angela and Fareeha stared at each other in confusion. “The moment Hana realized you both had left she was completely in hysterics. She cried for this ‘D.Va’ to come get her,” Ana seemed worried. “It wasn’t until Reinhardt gave her markers to try and calm her down, she grabbed the pink one to draw lines on her face that she stopped screaming for this 'D.Va'.” Ana crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.

Fareeha shrugged. “Kids and their imagination.”  


Angela, however, was deep in thought. “Did she say something along the lines of ‘D.Va protect’?” Angela asked.  


Ana’s gaze locked to Angela’s, and she nodded. “I don’t think it’s simply her imagination,” Ana said forebodingly before she turned back to the soup on the stove to stir it.

“What else could it be?” Fareeha asked, starting to grow a little worried. She looked to her wife and Angela looked lost in thought. Fareeha had known her long enough to know when the doctor’s wheels were turning with some idea or theory.  


“I’ve seen it before,” Ana spoke up after a moment of silence, “In some domestic violence cases, the children create a kind of ‘alternate reality’ that is safer than the one their living.”  


“What do you mean?” Angela asked ominously.  


Instead of answering, Ana rifled through a nearby drawer and pulled out a pen and paper. “I am going to give you the name of the child psychologist that works with our department.” She scribbled down a name on the paper and a phone number and handed it to Fareeha.  


Dr. Jean-Augustin Baptiste

“Thank you, mother,” Fareeha pocketed the slip of paper just in time for Hana to race into the kitchen and throw herself into the women. Hana’s face was clean as she looked to them, and Fareeha picked her up. “Come,  _ tayir saghir”  _ Fareeha sat her in a chair and helped set the table.  


Lunch was filled with Hana’s retelling of Reinhardt’s embellished stories of brave crusaders in a faraway land fighting monsters. “I’m gonna fight the monsters, too!”  she announced to the table.  


“Really, now?” Angela raised an eyebrow. “Well, you can’t fight monsters if you don’t finish your lunch.”

Hana pouted, and that was the end of that.  


Hana fell asleep in the car on the way back home. The piece of paper that Ana gave them burned in Fareeha’s pocket. She couldn’t stop glancing at Hana from the rear-view mirror. The peaceful way she slept it broke Fareeha’s heart to think there was something deeply wrong inside of her head. 


	7. D.Va

The weather was perfect, if a bit windy. The large, fluffy clouds rolled lazily across the sky as a cold front signaled the upcoming end of summer. Angela hummed to herself as she sat on the back patio sipping her mimosa, not caring that it was in the early afternoon. Mimosas are good any time. She watched diligently as Hana played with her cardboard box robot. They still didn’t have the fence built yet (save from a few anchor posts that Fareeha had forced into the ground). So Fareeha and Angela would watch Hana play in the backyard and warn her if she got too close to the edge of the cliff. It was a foolproof plan.

“Do you need a drink refresher?” Fareeha’s voice came from next to her on another patio chair. Her wife peered at Angela over her sunglasses. 

The blonde looked at her drink that was mostly water now. “No, I think I’m good.” She smiled. Fareeha laid all the way back in her chair and kicked her feet up. 

“You know, Hana should be starting school soon,” Fareeha mentioned off-handedly. She knew it was a sore topic, confirmed by the way Angela gulped down the rest of her watery drink. 

“We could home-school her for a year,” Angela replied, not taking her eyes off of the girl giddily playing in her cardboard box as if it were the hottest toy.

Fareeha sighed. Angela was still making excuses. “You know that can’t work with our schedules.”

Angela threw her head back in exasperation. “I know Fareeha.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and looking at her wife. “I’m just not ready to let go.” 

Fareeha could see tears begin to well up in her wife’s eyes, and she got up to wipe them away. “We will do this together,” she said, holding Angela’s hand and giving it a firm squeeze. 

A sharp knock at the front door grabbed both women’s attention. They looked at each other quizzically for a brief moment before Fareeha stood up. “I’ll get it.” 

She walked through the house to the front door and when she opened it she froze. The imposing figure of Hana’s case worker loomed in the doorway. “Akande! We weren’t expecting you until Friday!” Fareeha stepped aside to let him in. She had to stop and check her phone. “It’s only Tuesday,” she assured herself, still confused as to why he suddenly showed up unexpectedly.

“Yes, Mrs. Amari, I am aware of what day it is.” Akande took off his sunglasses as he stepped inside, the way he simply pushed passed her made Fareeha feel as small as an ant. “I stopped by early. This is standard protocol. We sometimes want to see a family in their “natural habitat,” so to speak.”

The color drained from Fareeha’s face. Not that they had done anything wrong, but it felt like he was trying to catch them doing something wrong. “Oh! O-Of course. Hana is outside playing,” she stammered before leading Akande out back. 

“I see you still don’t have a fence,” Akande pointed out as soon as he stepped through the threshold and onto the back patio. 

The sound of his booming voice had Angela scrambling to her feet. “Akande! This is a...pleasurable surprise!” Angela held her hand out for him to shake, which he did. 

“Why haven’t you gotten a fence?” he asked, not beating around the bush with pleasantries.

“You see, we’ve gotten several quotes and the soil is so rocky, and we…” Fareeha started to ramble nervously when Akande cut her off.

“That sounds like an excuse,” he said sharply. 

“‘Kande!” Hana realized that her case worker was here and instantly abandoned her box to race over. 

Angela watched as Akande’s demeanor changed when Hana hugged his leg, and he bent over to gently pick her up. “Hello to you, too.” He actually cracked a small smile, completely dumbfounding the women whom were certain that Akande felt little emotion at all.

“‘Kande! ‘Kande! I wanna show you my robot!” She squirmed out of his grasp to run and grab her box and drag it over. 

“She has plenty of toys,” Fareeha quickly chimed in. “She just really likes this box.” 

Akande nodded skeptically. “I see, well I will just be doing a routine inspection.” He nodded towards the briefcase he always carried. 

“Sure,” Angela followed him inside, watching him anxiously. 

“Hana, why don’t you come inside with us?” Fareeha asked, to which the little girl obliged.

“‘Kande! I wanna show you my new games!” Hana tugged on the pant leg of the social worker and directed him upstairs. “And my room!” She was using all of her weight to try and pull him forward, but Akande didn’t move a centimeter. 

“Alright, we will start there.” He humored her and followed Hana as she bounded up the stairs on her hands and feet, giggling all the while.

Angela cast a glance to her wife. Fareeha shared the same nervous and slightly terrified look. They both knew the house was a mess. Not Mako-and-Jamie-level mess, of course. Their apartment above the butcher shop was usually more akin to a pigsty. It also wasn’t as neat and organized as Satya’s dorm room. That woman had a place for everything and could tell when one object was moved the slightest bit. 

No, their house looked more like a small tornado wound its way through, that tornado being a rambunctious five-year-old with the attention span of a gnat and an imagination the size of North America. Fareeha quickly went around the house straightening things up, putting the couch pillows back on the couch and dishes in the sink. 

Angela went upstairs, hoping that Hana didn’t rope Akande into some long game or story she liked to tell. Poor Reinhardt was often subject to many of Hana’s games that left the poor man physically exhausted. Instead, when Angela got to Hana’s room she froze at the sight before her. The little girl had Akande sitting on her bed and she stood before him holding a familiar leather-bound book. Hana bounced excitedly on her feet. “Dis Uncle Jesse!” She pointed to a photo in the book. “He’s funny! And this Uncle Hanzo!” 

Angela could see the photo album that Fareeha had made and her heart lept in her throat. She had nearly forgotten about it and didn’t expect Hana to actually find it, much less look through it. The book wasn’t nearly as colorful as all of her others and typically wouldn’t attract the attention of a child. Angela could only watch as Hana flipped to another page. 

“Look ‘Kande!” Hana furiously tapped at the photograph that was carefully placed on the page and nearly shoved the book in his face. “That’s Mommy and Mama! Grandma Ana said that they love each other a whole lot!” 

Angela forgot how to breathe.

In the time that Hana had lived with them never once had she referred to either woman as her “mother.” While it stung, Angela had read from her many books that something like that couldn’t be forced. She remembered herself having a hard time referring to Jack as “dad” when he first got her out of Switzerland. For Angela, to hear Hana call her “mommy” made her heart swell fit to burst. The feeling of loving someone and being loved in return brought tears to her eyes. She choked a bit on her emotion, alerting Hana to her presence. 

Upon seeing the blonde woman Hana’s face lit up and she ran to her. “Look what I found!” She held the book up for Angela to see. 

“I see, dear,” Angela was trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall down her face. 

“What’s wrong?” Hana looked confused as to why Angela was about to cry. Akande stood up and cleared his throat, signaling that he understood whatever was happening did not involve him.

“Well, I should look at more of the house.” He slipped past Angela and Hana in the doorway. Angela was still for a moment as her brain caught up with her body. Once it did, she scooped Hana up and held her closely, burying her face into the little girl’s shirt. Angela didn’t want to let her go. It was as if before this point she was asleep and only when she heard those words out of Hana’s mouth did she finally wake up and see the sun rise for the first time. 

Fareeha walked up the stairs and stopped at the top, seeing Angela holding Hana and the little girl struggling to break free. “Angie, are you okay?” Fareeha asked, concerned about her wife. 

“Help!” Hana struggled, looking to Fareeha with wild eyes. 

“Angie? Babe? Put Hana down…” Fareeha approached with caution. Angela set Hana down, the girl scampering away lest she be pulled into another life-sucking hug. When Fareeha noticed the tears in Angela’s eyes she raced over. “Angela? What’s wrong?” Every worst-case scenario played in Fareeha’s head. Did Akande decide Hana had to go back to Korea? Were they unfit parents? Fareeha wanted to be sick. 

Angela shook her head as if she was reading her wife’s thoughts. “I was trying to find Hana and Akande and she was showing him this.” She held out the leather-bound photo album Fareeha had slaved over for the better part of a week. “Fareeha,” Angela’s icy blue eyes quivered as she looked into the dark brown eyes of her wife, “She referred to us as her mothers.” That sentence barely came out above a whisper, as if she herself didn’t believe it.

Fareeha’s eyes went wide and a bright smile filled her face. In one swoop she scooped Angela up and spun her around wordlessly in the hallway. Many nights the two women would sit up in bed, airing out every doubt that plagued them. Angela nervous from her own experiences of being adopted, and Fareeha always doubting herself since her own mother was absent for a part of her life. 

Fareeha put Angela down, the grin on her face lighting up the room. “She really said it?” Her overwhelming happiness made her voice crack. 

“I didn’t think it would happen,” Angela said, her voice still carrying the hint of disbelief. 

“This is cause for celebration! We should call my mother and your fathers!” Both women were so overcome by their happiness they didn’t hear Akande clearing his throat until the third time he did it. With a collective blush the two women broke apart. 

Akande went on as if nothing happened. “It seems she is adjusting well here,” he stated flatly as he flipped the papers on his clipboard. “Other than the fact you need a fence in your backyard, I don’t see anything that concerns me.” He put the clipboard back into his briefcase before walking back down the stairs. “Your next home visit will be 6 months from now,” he called over his shoulder. Neither woman was sure if that meant six calendar months or Akande-time which seemed to work independently of the space-time continuum. 

Both women followed him to the front door. “You are more than welcome to come by any time!” Angela shook Akande’s hand with one arm wrapped around Fareeha’s waist. Akande could be telling them the world was ending, and both women would still be happy. 

Akande pulled his phone out as he walked back to his car, the expensive black Lexus that sat on the street. Because Hana’s adoption was an emergency one, his boss wanted him to give an update as soon as he was finished with the home visit. “I just got done with the Amari-Ziegler case.” He spoke into the phone. “Hana is adjusting well, she seems very happy.” Akande looked back towards the house, a smile creeping onto his lips. “I’ve worked here for eight years now and I believe I have seen everything, both good and bad.” His eyes glazed over as he remembered the vibrant little girl he pulled out of the rubble of Busan and the look that both Angela and Fareeha had on seeing her for the first time after the disaster. It was the same look they had today and a look that Akande wished he saw more of. It was a look that new parents got when everything fit and the child was happy. “I am confident this is the right fit for Hana.” He said and hung up, not letting his boss ask any questions before he drove off with a smile on his face.

Fareeha whipped around to face Angela. “We should meet everyone at the bar!” She was giddy with excitement akin to a teenager’s. 

Angela nodded, already pulling out her phone out to text her fathers. “We will get Hana and-” She stopped that sentence short as she looked around for the little girl.

Hana was nowhere to be seen. 

“Hana?” Angela called and looked around, she got no response. Panic started to well in the pit of Angela’s stomach and she tried to push it down. 

“She’s probably in her room or something,” Fareeha assured. Still, Angela tossed her phone and raced upstairs. 

“Hana? Baby, where are you?” Angela called, looking into the little girl’s room hoping to find her but it was empty, her videogames untouched. Angela dashed to the bathroom and threw the door open. Nothing. “Hana, this isn’t funny!” Angela threw open the door of the master bedroom, hoping Hana was jumping on the bed or anything. But there was still no sign of her. 

“Hana?” Fareeha called from downstairs, doing likewise and upending pillows, throwing open doors and cabinets and even looking in the oven. “She has to be around here somewhere…” She told herself as she opened the door of the utility closet to peer inside.

Angela was doing a bad job of trying to keep herself calm, but she was trying. “Hana!” She looked under beds, in the tub, in the closets, but no sign of the little girl. Finally deeming that Hana wasn’t upstairs, Angela raced back to the living room where Fareeha was lifting the couch to look under it. A cool summer breeze danced in her wife’s hair. 

Anglea’s eyes went wide and her heart leapt in her throat. The yard.

Angela spun to the patio door that was wide open, filling the house with the scent of seawater. “Hana!” Angela screamed, panic gripping her chest, her breath catching in her throat as she raced outside. Fareeha was hot on her heels as her concern turned to panic as well.

“Hana!” Fareeha called, looking desperately for their daughter but finding nothing. The wind whipped harder and with it carried a tiny noise almost too faint to register had their senses not been heightened by adrenaline. 

“...Help…” called the tiny voice, and both women scrambled to find the source. It was Hana’s voice, that much Angela knew. It came from the side of the house, past the fence line and towards the cliff.

“Hana!” Angela called again, hoping to hear a reply.

“Mommy!” The voice was louder now but Angela saw no one. She knew she wasn’t imagining things. 

“Hana?” Fareeha too was looking frantically. 

“Mama!” The voice was louder now and Fareeha bolted towards the cliff, her heart pounding in her ears until she reached the edge.

She found Hana, sitting precariously on a small ledge of rock a few feet below the rim. So close and yet so far. Below her, several hundred feet down was the cardboard box robot that she loved being lapped at by the waves of the sea. Hana had tears falling down her face as she looked back at Fareeha with terror in her eyes.

“Baby, don’t move. Mama will come get you.” Fareeha’s mind worked in overdrive. She spun to Angela who had froze in sheer terror. “Angela, I can reach her. I just need you to hold my ankles,” Fareeha said, using her commanding voice reminiscent of her former military days. Her tone snapped Angela back to reality. She nodded wordlessly, looking to Fareeha for direction. 

Fareeha crawled to the edge of the cliff with Angela holding on to her to keep her from falling head-over-heels down the rock. Fareeha had tunnel-vision, the only thing she saw was the petrified look of her daughter as she crammed herself onto the tiny ledge. Silently thanking the Canadian Army for all they taught her, Fareeha edged her top half down the cliff, her arms extended. Try as she might, there was still too much space between them. “ _ealayk allaena,”_ Fareeha cursed under her breath. She spied a root that was just above Hana’s head. “Hana, listen to me,”

Hana trembled, paralyzed with fear.

“Hana, I need you to grab onto that root and pull yourself up so I can grab you.” Fareeha spoke slowly and clearly. In the seconds that it took for her to come up with this plan, she hadn’t taken into account Hana’s compliance. 

“D ...D.Va…..” Hana whimpered, her brown eyes wide. “Where?” 

“Hana.” Fareeha knew the train of thought Hana was on. “D.Va’s not here.” She stated, trying not to get frustrated with the girl. Hana looked up to Fareeha and started to cry, making no effort to climb the rock. Fareeha cursed under her breath. “Listen, sweetie, D.Va doesn't have to save you this time. Mama is here. Mama will protect you,” Fareeha looked pleadingly to the girl and Hana looked back up at her, tears still streaming down her face. “Hana, you can do this. Grab onto the root and pull yourself up a little.” She instructed. 

Still sniffling, Hana adjusted herself on the ledge to stand. As she did so, a few loose rocks fell from beneath her and plummeted to the sea below. The little girl let out a yelp as she hugged the cliff face, her entire body trembling with fear. Fareha felt her lunch threatening to revisit her as she only helplessly watched. “Hana, I’m right here, you can do this,” Fareeha assured again, reaching as far as she could. Hana looked up to the little root that stuck out precariously from the rock. Hana got on her tiptoes and grabbed a hold of it. It was firm in the rock and she hoisted herself up a little bit, it was just enough that Fareeha could grab her hand and pull her the rest of the way.  “I got her, Angie!” Fareeha called back and she felt herself being pulled up the cliff-face by her wife. 

In a matter of moments the whole ordeal was over, and the family collapsed into a sobbing heap. “I sowrry! _joesong haeyo!_ Sorry!" Hana blubbered, holding onto Fareeha so tightly that her little knuckles turned white. Angela ushered them further away from the ledge before enveloping them in a hug.

“Shhhhh...It’s alright, you’re safe now,” Angela cooed, rubbing Hana’s back as her own tears spilled down her face. 

“Hana, please, don’t ever do that again,” Fareeha pleaded as her heart began to slow down. Hana nodded furiously into her shirt, sobbing. “What were you thinking?” Anger now started to rise within Fareeha. It wasn’t anger at Hana directly, more like anger at herself for letting Hana out of her sight and carelessly leaving the patio door open.

It took Hana a few minutes to control her sobs long enough to form words again. “The wind…carried robot ‘way…” Hana burst into tears again before mumbling incoherently in Korean. Angela was able to wipe her own tears away and look at Hana. The little girl’s bottom lip trembled. “Please don’t…” Hana’s voice was hardly above a whisper, “...send back…”

Another wave of emotion hit both women like a tsunami. Angela grabbed Hana and pulled her even closer. “No, _honig_ , we would never do that.” 

“No baby, we’re just glad you’re okay.” Fareeha felt a bit guilty at her flare of anger. She wrapped her arms around both Hana and Angela as the three of them continued to cry from the near-death experience. 

The wind had died down now as the late afternoon settled into early evening. To Angela, it felt like some final test of sorts. That in order to prove they were worthy of the titles Hana had given them, they needed to overcome this final challenge.

And they passed with flying colors.


End file.
